REPUBLICANS' "PLAN B" LOOKS BALKY

When Bill Lee agreed to be the master of ceremonies
for the Sussex County Republicans' Lincoln Day Dinner,
it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Lee was enjoying his status as something of a
politician emeritus, still wildly popular in the party
after about a decade of thrills and spills in public
life.

He was the King of the Close Call. As a candidate for
governor, he had two heart-pumping losses, the one in
2004 when he nearly upset Ruth Ann Minner as the
Democratic governor was running for her second term and
the one in 2000 when he came up 46 votes shy of
clinching the nomination in the gubernatorial primary.

It was a political ride that shot from Lee's almost
cult-like standing as the judge who had the patience,
the wisdom and the temperament to outthink Tom Capano
and not let a feral murderer, no matter how wealthy,
well-connected and sophisticated, cagily game the court
system or turn his trial into a farce.

Bill Lee is 72. Add in his recent stint as the Sussex
County Republican chair -- a reprise of the post he held
in the 1970s before he went on the bench -- and he has
done his part.

On the last day of 2007, Lee cleaned out his old
campaign account for governor by donating $889 to the
charity for Beebe Medical Center, the Lewes hospital
where he is the vice chair of the board, and that was
supposed to be that.

When Lee was asked earlier this year by the Eastern
Sussex Republican Club and the Sussex County Republican
Women's Club to preside at their Lincoln Day Dinner in
Rehoboth Beach, it seemed to mean nothing more than a
post-farewell appearance, not even very far from his
home. Lee said yes.

That was before Alan Levin dropped out of the
governor's race a month ago with the vicious shock of
the trap door under the hangman's noose.

By the time Lee arrived for the dinner Monday evening
at the Atlantic Sands Hotel, he was not speaking in
front of any old 120 people. These were 120 Republicans
approaching desperation over not having anyone credible
to run against either Lt. Gov. John Carney or Treasurer
Jack Markell, whoever wins the Democratic primary for
governor, and Lee was looking pretty good to them.

State Rep. Danny Short, a Seaford Republican, sidled
up to Lee to show him something. It was a "Lee for
governor" political button. Lee rapidly turned away.

(Short also brought along a "John Burris for
governor" button and a "Terry Spence for governor"
button from past campaigns just in case one of those
guys showed up, but neither did. For Spence's button,
Short even put a piece of tape through the middle of the
last zero in "2000" so it looked like "2008.")

"Certainly pressing Bill Lee to run makes the most
sense," said Vance Phillips, the Sussex County
councilman who also is the Republicans' state vice
chair.

Lee is torn. He was so sure his politicking days were
behind him. He figures he would need $2 million to run
-- Carney has $1 million in his treasury and Markell has
$2.5 million -- and he hates to raise money. His family
is against another race, and both of the Democrats are
proven vote-getters who would be favored in a state that
increasingly likes its politics in shades of Democratic
blue.

The nomination, though, is there for Lee's asking,
and the governorship is his heart's desire.

"There are still people who think they can put
together a financial package. I have strong doubts. My
desire to be governor is not going to override common
sense and my kids," Lee said.

He expects to decide on his final answer shortly.

At the dinner, Vance Phillips gave the keynote
address on Lincoln. The 16th president, who had the
foresight to share in the creation of the Republican
Party, keep the union together and end slavery, reminded
Phillips of a Biblical verse from Proverbs -- "Where
there is no vision, the people perish."

Where there is no candidate for governor, a political
party can perish, too.

The Republicans lost their "Plan A" -- Alan Levin. It
is not looking good for "Plan B" -- Bill Lee. There
could have been a "Plan C," but Charlie Copeland, the
Senate minority leader who has been regarded as
gubernatorial material, ran in the other direction as
soon as he heard Levin was out.

The Republicans have to do something, or else they
will be forced into "Plan D" -- a Democrat. Perish the
thought.